USCA11 Case: 22-11776 Document: 45-1 Date Filed: 04/13/2023 Page: 1 of 16
[PUBLISH]
In the
United States Court of Appeals
For the Eleventh Circuit
____________________
No. 22-11776
____________________
SHILOH CHRISTIAN CENTER,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
ASPEN SPECIALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
____________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Florida
D.C. Docket No. 6:20-cv-01774-CEM-LHP
____________________
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2 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
Before JILL PRYOR, NEWSOM, and GRANT, Circuit Judges.
NEWSOM, Circuit Judge:
This is an insurance case. Fear not, keep reading. In deter-
mining whether a pair of insurance policies cover losses resulting
from “named windstorms,” we have to decide an important and
(as it turns out) interesting question about the interpretation of
written legal instruments: What is a court to do when all the surest
proof of contracting parties’ subjective intentions and expectations
flatly contradicts the surest indicators of an agreement’s objective
legal meaning?
At the risk of oversimplifying, Aspen Specialty Insurance
Company, a billion-dollar insurance conglomerate, has essentially
all of the subjective-intent evidence on its side: The records of the
contracting parties’ course of dealing, contractual negotiations, and
policy applications strongly suggest that the parties intended and
expected that the policies would exclude damage caused by named
windstorms. But Aspen’s policyholder—Shiloh Christian Center,
a small Florida church—has the text: However clear the parties’
subjective intentions or expectations, the policies do not, by their
plain terms, exclude named-windstorm-related losses.
What, then? The district court found the evidence of the
parties’ subjective intent overwhelming and accordingly granted
summary judgment to Aspen. We hold, to the contrary, that, un-
der Florida law—as in the law more generally—in the event of a
conflict between clear text, on the one hand, and even compelling
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 3
evidence of extra-textual “intent,” on the other, the latter must give
way to the former Cf. CRI-Leslie, LLC v. Comm’r of Internal Rev-
enue,
882 F.3d 1026, 1033 (11th Cir. 2018). We therefore reverse
the district court’s decision and remand for further proceedings.
I
A
In 2016 and 2017, respectively, Hurricanes Matthew and
Irma tore through Melbourne, Florida, pummeling Shiloh Chris-
tian Center. On both occasions, the storms peeled back the
church’s roof, allowing rain to soak the exposed structure. 1
In 2015, the year before Matthew hit, Shiloh’s property-in-
surance policy with Aspen Specialty Insurance Company covered
losses resulting from so-called named windstorms—i.e., hurri-
canes. In the middle of that year, though, Shiloh specifically asked
Aspen to stop covering named-windstorm-related losses. Aspen
agreed and issued an endorsement implementing the requested
change: “THIS ENDORSEMENT CHANGES THE POLICY.
PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY. . . . It is understood and agreed
effective 7/16/2015, the following change is made to this policy:
Named Windstorm coverage is removed from this policy.” Doc.
25-4 (emphasis in original). Reflecting the amendment, Aspen
1 We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing
all facts and drawing all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to
Shiloh as the nonmoving party. See Hinkle v. Midland Credit Mgmt., Inc.,
827
F.3d 1295, 1300 (11th Cir. 2016).
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4 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
reduced Shiloh’s premium and even refunded its past payments for
named-windstorm coverage.
In early 2016, Shiloh began negotiations to renew its policy
with Aspen. An insurance broker gave Shiloh a quote for “the same
coverage provided after the Return Premium endorsement was is-
sued last year”—that is, the post-amendment coverage that “ex-
clude[d] Named Storms.” Doc. 25-3 at 15 (email from Shiloh). In
its application for the policy, Shiloh scribbled “EX wind” in the sec-
tion labeled “forms and conditions to apply” for several of the cov-
ered premises. Doc. 25-7 at 4, 7. Aspen then issued a binder—
which, for the uninitiated, is “a contract . . . for interim insurance”
that is “effective at the date of the application and terminates at
either the completion or rejection of the principal policy.” Medley
Warehouses, LC v. Scottsdale Ins. Co.,
39 So. 3d 440, 444–45 (Fla.
3rd Dist. Ct. App. 2010) (quotations and brackets omitted). The
binder described the agreed-to scope of coverage this way: “All
Risks of Direct Physical Loss or Damage excluding Flood, Earth-
quake and Named Windstorm.” Doc. 25-9 at 2.
Soon after, Aspen issued the 2016 policy. The cover page
described the 2016 policy as a “renewal of” its 2015 predecessor.
Doc. 25-10 at 1. But the two policies’ terms differed in material
respects. For one thing, the 2016 policy was about $10,000 cheaper
per year than the amended 2015 policy. Far more significantly
here, the 2016 policy contained no exclusion for losses caused by
named windstorms. It contained a detailed catalogue of other ex-
clusions—for instance, for damage resulting from “Ordinance Or
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 5
Law,” “Earth Movement,” “Governmental Action,” “Nuclear Haz-
ard,” “Utility Services,” “War And Military Action,” and “‘Fungus,’
Wet Rot, Dry Rot And Bacteria”—but a “Named Windstorms” ex-
clusion was conspicuously absent. Doc. 25-10 at 42–44 § B.
You know what happened next. In October 2016, a named
windstorm—Hurricane Matthew—blew through Melbourne, rip-
ping the roof off Shiloh’s building. Rainwater poured in, aggravat-
ing the damage. Shiloh filed a claim for, in its words, “Water Dam-
age from Roof hurricane Matthew.” Doc. 25-15. Aspen denied the
claim on several grounds, including, as relevant here, that Shiloh’s
policy excluded coverage for losses caused by named windstorms.
See Doc. 25-16 at 2.
B
The following year was basically a carbon copy. In early
2017, Shiloh commenced efforts to renew its policy. As in 2016,
Aspen provided a quote, reminding Shiloh that the policy would
exclude coverage for damage resulting from “Named Wind-
storms.” Doc. 25-13 at 2. As in 2016, Shiloh applied for the policy,
scribbling “EX wind” into the application’s “forms and conditions
to apply” sections for certain buildings, Doc. 25-11 at 3–4, 7, and
Aspen issued a binder reflecting the named-windstorm exclusion,
Doc. 25-12. As in 2016, Aspen then formally issued a policy that
described itself as a “renewal” of the 2016 policy, Doc. 25-14 at 1,
but, again, whose “Exclusions” provision, while expressly carving
out losses resulting from all manner of contingencies, said nothing
about named windstorms, id. at 43–44.
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6 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
Like clockwork, in September 2017, a named windstorm—
Hurricane Irma—blew through town and, you guessed it, tore the
roof off of Shiloh’s building. Just as it had in Hurricane Matthew,
water poured in, exacerbating the damage. Shiloh filed another
claim listing the “cause of loss”—again, in its words—as “Hurricane
Irma.” Doc. 25-18 at 1. And just as it had done a year earlier, Aspen
denied Shiloh’s claim on several grounds, among them that its pol-
icy excluded losses caused by named windstorms.
C
Shiloh sued Aspen for breach of contract and sought a dec-
laration that its 2016 and 2017 policies—which we’ll call the Mat-
thew and Irma Policies—covered damages caused by named wind-
storms. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment, teeing
up a discrete and dispositive question of law: Do the policies cover
named-windstorm-related losses?
The district court granted summary judgment to Aspen. It
held that “no reasonable jury” could find that the parties “intended
the policies at issue to exclude named windstorm coverage.” Doc.
41 at 13 (emphasis omitted). The court acknowledged that “[t]he
two policies in effect when [Shiloh’s] building incurred damage do
not, alone, say anything explicit concerning damage resulting from
a named windstorm.” Id. at 9. But it found Aspen’s evidence re-
garding the parties’ intent overwhelming: “[T]he explicit bargain-
ing to remove named windstorm coverage, the reduced premiums
that resulted from that bargaining, and the explicit language in the
subsequent policy quotes” all proved to the district court’s
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 7
satisfaction that “named windstorm coverage would not be in-
cluded.” Id. at 13.
This is Shiloh’s appeal. Shiloh contends, as it did below, that
the Matthew and Irma Policies cover losses caused by named wind-
storms, and it asks us to “reverse the district court’s order granting
summary judgment” and to “remand[] with instructions that [the
case] be submitted to a jury.” Br. of Appellant at 25.
II
We reverse. For reasons we will explain, we hold that both
policies cover named windstorms. The Irma Policy unambigu-
ously covers them, and the Matthew Policy, although ambiguous,
covers them by dint of the traditional contra proferentem canon of
insurance-contract interpretation.
A
The general rules governing the interpretation of insurance
policies under Florida law are clear. 2 The cardinal principle is that
a policy’s text is paramount: “Florida courts start with ‘the plain
language of the policy, as bargained for by the parties.’” State Farm
Fire & Cas. Co. v. Steinberg,
393 F.3d 1226, 1230 (11th Cir. 2004)
(citing Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Anderson,
756 So. 2d 29, 34 (Fla.
2000)). In particular, “[i]n insurance coverage cases under Florida
2 Because federal jurisdiction over this matter is based on diversity of the par-
ties’ citizenship, Florida law governs the determination of the issues on this
appeal. See State Farm Fire & Cas. Co. v. Steinberg,
393 F.3d 1226, 1230 (11th
Cir. 2004).
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8 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
law, courts look at the insurance policy as a whole and give every
provision its full meaning and operative effect.”
Id. (quotations
omitted). To be sure, Florida law permits reviewing courts to ven-
ture outside the policy’s four corners in limited circumstances—to
consider, for instance, whether an insured’s “application” should
be understood to “amplif[y], extend[], or modif[y]” the policy.
Fla.
Stat. § 627.419(1). Florida law is clear, though, that in the event of
a conflict between the policy and the underlying application, the
policy controls. See Mathews v. Ranger Ins. Co.,
281 So. 2d 345,
349 (Fla. 1973) (“[T]he general rule” is that “the provisions of the
policy [] govern where conflict exists between the provisions of the
application and the policy.”) (interpreting § 627.419(1)).
Beyond those basics, Florida law prescribes more particular
rules for the interpretation of ambiguous and unambiguous insur-
ance policies. The rule applicable to unambiguous policies is ruth-
lessly straightforward: If the policy’s “language is unambiguous, it
governs”—end of story. State Farm Fire,
393 F.3d at 1230; accord
Allstate Ins. Co. v. Orthopedic Specialists,
212 So. 3d 973, 975–76
(Fla. 2017) (“Where the language in an insurance contract is plain
and unambiguous, a court must interpret the policy in accordance
with the plain meaning so as to give effect to the policy as writ-
ten.”). Importantly, that is true even where extrinsic evidence con-
tradicts the policy’s terms. See Vencor Hosps. v. Blue Cross Blue
Shield of R.I.,
284 F.3d 1174, 1179 (11th Cir. 2002) (“It is well estab-
lished under Florida law that parol evidence is inadmissible to vary
or contradict the clear and unambiguous language of a contract.”).
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 9
And it is “especially true when the contract contains an integration
clause indicating that the parties intended the written agreement
to be the entire agreement.” In re Yates Dev., Inc.,
256 F.3d 1285,
1290 (11th Cir. 2001) (applying Florida law).
When confronted with an insurance policy that is facially
ambiguous, Florida courts apply the familiar contra proferentem
canon. Pursuant to that interpretive rule, “any ambiguity which
remains after reading each policy as a whole and endeavoring to
give every provision its full meaning and operative effect must be
liberally construed in favor of coverage and strictly against the in-
surer.” Gov’t Emps. Ins. Co. v. Macedo,
228 So. 3d 1111, 1113 (Fla.
2017) (quoting Wash. Nat’l Ins. Corp. v. Ruderman,
117 So. 3d 943,
949–50 (Fla. 2013) (plurality opinion)).
Importantly here, the Florida Supreme Court has clarified
that facial ambiguities in insurance contracts should be resolved by
reference to contra proferentem rather than extrinsic evidence of
the parties’ supposed “intent.” And in fact, it did so in response to
a question that we certified to it. In Ruderman ex rel. Schwartz v.
Washington National Insurance Corp.,
671 F.3d 1208 (11th Cir.
2012), we confronted (1) a Florida insurance policy that was ambig-
uous on its face and (2) an apparent split among Florida courts
about how to resolve the ambiguity. One line of decisions indi-
cated that “[a]mbiguous policy provisions are interpreted liberally
in favor of the insured and strictly against the drafter who prepared
the policy”; but another suggested that courts should “look[] to ex-
trinsic evidence to resolve the ambiguity before construing any
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10 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
remaining ambiguity against the drafter of the policy.”
Id. at 1211
(quotations omitted) (emphasis in original). Uncertain how to pro-
ceed, we certified several questions to the Florida Supreme Court,
one of which was whether, “[i]f an ambiguity exists in this insur-
ance policy,” a court should “first attempt to resolve the ambiguity
by examining available extrinsic evidence.”
Id. at 1212. In what we
called a “definite response[],” the Florida Supreme Court “advised
us that the answer” is “no”—contra proferentem controls. Ruder-
man ex rel. Schwartz v. Wash. Nat’l Ins. Corp.,
731 F.3d 1188, 1189
(11th Cir. 2013) (citing Ruderman, 117 So. 3d at 949–50).
To the extent that the Florida Supreme Court’s Ruderman
decision left any doubt, its follow-on decision in Macedo resolved
it. The question there was whether an insurance policy provision
covering “legal expenses and court costs” included attorneys’ fees.
The court concluded that the policy’s language “create[d] an ambi-
guity”—in particular, it said, because “[r]eferring to ‘legal expenses’
in conjunction with ‘court costs’ signifies that there are ‘legal ex-
penses’ aside from costs” that might (or might not) include attor-
neys’ fees. Macedo,
228 So. 3d at 1114. As already noted, for the
governing interpretive principle the court quoted its earlier deci-
sion in Ruderman: “[A]ny ambiguity which remains after reading
each policy as a whole and endeavoring to give every provision its
full meaning and operative effect must be liberally construed in fa-
vor of coverage and against the insurer.”
Id. at 1113 (quotations
omitted). The court then applied that rule matter-of-factly and
without further elaboration or investigation, let alone
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 11
consideration of any extrinsic evidence: “[B]ecause there are mul-
tiple reasonable interpretations regarding whether attorneys’ fees
are included by the terms ‘expenses’ and ‘costs,’” the policy “is am-
biguous and must be construed in favor of coverage.”
Id. at 1114
(citation omitted).
Together, Ruderman and Macedo make clear that when
confronted with a facially ambiguous insurance policy, a reviewing
court should simply apply the well-worn contra proferentem rule
and resolve the ambiguities in favor of coverage and against the
insurer. It shouldn’t plumb the depths for evidence of the parties’
supposed intent. 3
B
We now apply these principles to the two policies. First, the
Irma Policy. Whatever the extrinsic evidence may suggest about
the parties’ intentions or expectations, the Irma Policy
3 We should briefly tie up one loose end. In some contexts, Florida courts
have distinguished between contracts that exhibit “patent” ambiguities—i.e.,
those that appear on the face of the instrument—and those that contain only
“latent” ambiguities—i.e., those that surface only after considering extrinsic
circumstances. In those contexts, courts have permitted the consideration of
parol evidence to clarify latent ambiguities but not patent ones. See, e.g., Mac-
Gray Servs., Inc. v. Savannah Assocs. of Sarasota, LLC,
915 So. 2d 657, 659
(Fla. 2d Dist. Ct. App. 2005). For two reasons, though, those decisions don’t
affect our analysis here. First, the sole ambiguity that we find here—as we’ll
explain, in the Matthew Policy—is patent, not latent. Second, it may well be
that the patent-latent distinction matters only for “contracts other than con-
tracts of insurance.” Ruderman, 117 So. 3d at 950 n.3.
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12 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
unambiguously covers named windstorms. The policy opens with
a provision that broadly “cover[s]” “risks of direct physical loss.”
Doc. 25-14 at 43 § A. There follows a long and extremely detailed
list of exclusions—set out beneath a bolded “Exclusions” header.
Id. at 43 § B. That list includes exclusions for losses caused by “Or-
dinance Or Law,” “Earth Movement,” “Governmental Action,”
“Nuclear Hazard,” “Utility Services,” “War And Military Action,”
“Water” (which, to be clear, refers to floods, mudslides, etc.), and
“‘Fungus,’ Wet Rot, Dry Rot And Bacteria.” The list conspicuously
does not include “Named Windstorms,” either as a defined cate-
gory of claim or in any other way, shape, form, or fashion.
Two interpretive principles confirm that the Irma Policy
doesn’t exclude, and therefore covers, damage caused by named
windstorms. The first is the usual rule that “insurance coverage
must be interpreted broadly and its exclusions narrowly.”
Westchester Gen. Hosp., Inc. v. Evanston Ins. Co.,
48 F.4th 1298,
1302 (11th Cir. 2022) (quotations and brackets omitted). And the
second is the rule of expressio unius est exclusio alterius—i.e., that
“[t]he expression of one thing implies the exclusion of others.” An-
tonin Scalia & Bryan A. Garner, Reading Law: The Interpretation
of Legal Texts 107 (2012); see also Young v. Progressive Se. Ins.
Co.,
753 So. 2d 80, 85 (Fla. 2000) (using this “principle of statutory
construction” to show that “[b]y failing to permit self-insured mo-
torist policy exclusions in the list of authorized exclusions, the Leg-
islature has . . . indicated its intent . . . not to permit self-insured
motorist policy exclusions”). Here, the expressio unius canon
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 13
applies with particular force because the Irma Policy’s catalogue of
exclusions is so detailed. See Scalia & Garner, supra, at 108 (“The
more specific the enumeration, the greater the force of the
canon.”).
On its face, then, the Irma Policy clearly doesn’t exclude—
and thus covers—losses resulting from named windstorms. We
can envision only two possible responses to the policy’s plain lan-
guage. First, the district court pointed to both policies’ “renewal
of” provisions, saying that they formed a “continuous chain”
stretching back to the pre-Matthew policy, which, as amended in
mid-2015, expressly excluded damages caused by named wind-
storms. But policies in this kind of “chain” don’t invariably dupli-
cate one other’s terms. And in fact, the chained-up policies here
diverge from the pre-Matthew policy in at least one material way,
in that they impose different premiums. Moreover, and in any
event, “[t]he general rule” in Florida is that “each renewal of an
insurance policy” creates “an entirely new and independent con-
tract of insurance.” Marchesano v. Nationwide Prop. & Cas. Ins.
Co.,
506 So. 2d 410, 413 (Fla. 1987) (emphasis added). 4
4 Before us, Aspen cites another passage of Marchesano for the proposition
that “the parties to the renewal of an insurance contract are ‘entitled to assume
that the terms of the renewed policy are the same as those of the original con-
tract.’” Br. of Appellee at 20 (quoting Marchesano,
506 So. 2d at 413) (empha-
sis added). But that is not what Marchesano says; rather, it says that “the in-
sured is entitled to assume that the terms of the renewed policy are the same
as those of the original contract.”
506 So. 2d at 413 (emphasis added). The
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14 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
Nor, anticipating a second response, are we persuaded that
Shiloh “amplified” or “modified” the Irma Policy within the mean-
ing of
Fla. Stat. § 627.419(1) by scribbling “EX wind” on its applica-
tion. Two reasons: As an initial matter, it’s not self-evident that
“EX wind” meant “exclusion for named windstorms”—maybe, but
not necessarily. Moreover, even if it did, it wouldn’t matter be-
cause, as already explained, Florida law provides that “the policy
. . . govern[s] where conflict exists between the provisions of the
application and the policy.” Mathews,
281 So. 2d at 349 (interpret-
ing § 627.419(1)). And again, that rule applies with even greater
force where, as here, the policy “contains an integration clause in-
dicating that the parties intended the written agreement to be the
entire agreement.” In re Yates Dev., Inc., 256 F.3d at 1290.
C
Shiloh concedes that, unlike the Irma Policy, the Matthew
Policy is ambiguous on its face. See Oral Arg. at 5:20–5:35. We’re
not so sure about that, but we’ll accept Shiloh’s concession. The
supposed ambiguity results from tension between two of the pol-
icy’s provisions. On the one hand, like the Irma Policy, the Mat-
thew Policy contains a broad coverage clause, and a detailed “Ex-
clusion” provision that includes all manner of specific exclusions
but, conspicuously, does not mention “Named Windstorms.”
Doc. 25-10 at 42 §§ A–B. That juxtaposition, for reasons we have
insurer, it seems to us, isn’t entitled to make the same (if any) assumptions
about the terms of a policy that it wrote.
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22-11776 Opinion of the Court 15
explained, strongly indicates that the Matthew Policy covers dam-
age caused by named windstorms. See supra at 12–13. On the
other hand, unlike the Irma Policy, the Matthew Policy’s deducti-
ble provision specifically mentions “Named Windstorm[s]”:
“DEDUCTIBLE: $5,000 Per Occurrence, except; $25,000 Per Oc-
currence as respects Wind and/or Hail (excluding Named Wind-
storm).” Doc. 25-10 at 9. On one reading, that provision’s closing
parenthetical could be understood to “exclud[e]” coverage for
“Named Windstorm[s].” Of course, the deductible provision could
also be read, in context, simply to create a “Named Windstorm”
“exclu[sion]” to the $25,000 “except[ion]”—meaning only that
named windstorms are subject to the usual $5,000 deductible. But
again, we’ll accept Shiloh’s concession that the Matthew Policy’s
deductible provision creates a facial ambiguity.
As already explained in detail, Florida law is clear that when
an insurance policy is facially ambiguous, the ambiguity is resolved
in favor of coverage and against the insurer, without regard to ex-
trinsic evidence of the parties’ supposed intentions or expectations.
That’s the rule of Ruderman and Macedo: “[A]ny ambiguity which
remains after reading each policy as a whole and endeavoring to
give every provision its full meaning and operative effect must be
liberally construed in favor of coverage and strictly against the in-
surer.” Macedo,
228 So. 3d at 1113 (quoting Ruderman, 117 So. 3d
at 949–50). Because (pursuant to Shiloh’s concession) “there are
multiple reasonable interpretations” regarding whether the Mat-
thew Policy covers named windstorms, the policy “is ambiguous
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16 Opinion of the Court 22-11776
and must be construed in favor of coverage.” Id. at 1114. Accord-
ingly, the Matthew Policy, like the Irma Policy, covers damage that
results from named windstorms.
III
For all these reasons, we hold as follows:
1. Whatever the evidence of the contracting parties’ subjec-
tive intentions and expectations, the Irma Policy’s plain language
unambiguously covers losses caused by named windstorms.
2. Although potentially ambiguous, the Matthew Policy
likewise—and, again, whatever the evidence of the parties’ subjec-
tive intentions and expectations—covers losses caused by named
windstorms pursuant to the contra proferentem canon, according
to which ambiguous insurance contracts are construed in favor of
coverage and against the insurer.
REVERSED and REMANDED. 5
5 In light of our analysis of the policies, Shiloh may well be entitled to summary
judgment. For whatever reason, Shiloh hasn’t asked us to reverse the district
court’s decision and render judgment in its favor; rather, it has asked us only
to reverse and remand the case “with instructions that it be submitted to a
jury.” Br. of Appellant at 25. We will remand the case, but not specifically
with instructions that it be submitted to a jury. We leave it to the district court
to decide how best to proceed.
